On our way west we made a stop in Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace, a folk-art wonder. The first Corn Palace was built in 1892 to showcase the crops grown in the area and to attract migrant farmers. Today, in this building, the third Corn Palace built in 1921, hundreds of thousands of visitors are welcomed each year as well as being the center of community activity hosting basketball games, stage shows, trade shows and a variety of other activities.

Each year a new decorating theme is chosen and the outside of the Corn Palace is stripped and redecorated with new corn and grains. During the summer, 3,000 bushels of milo, rye, oat heads and sour dock (a weed that turns dark red) are tied in bundles and attached. The corn murals have to wait until late summer when the corn crop is ready. Over a half million ears of corn are used in this process. It costs about $130,000 each year!

Today found us at the Minuteman Underground Launch control center, a representative site that illustrates the history and significance of the Cold War. This slogan painted on the door was said to be a morale booster for those involved in this operation.

We went 33 feet underground by elevator to the actual control center where we learned how it worked. A missile could be launched in 5-minutes after presidential authorization. We also visited Delta-09 where we got to see an unarmed Minuteman II missile in the silo.

In 1936 the owners of a small town pharmacy in Wall, SD came up with an ingenious marketing campaign. Realizing travelers going through the hot, dusty prairie would be thirsty, they put up signs along the highway offering free ice water. Tourists have been stopping ever since and today Wall Drug occupies a whole block and contains stores of every imaginable kind.